Current issues in economics

Growth from cutting capacity – Chinese way

Economic growth is normally we associate growth with capital investment and a shifting out of the production possibility curve. The Chinese have implemented an alternative policy that entails cutting capacity of its steel and coal production by at least 10% over 5 years which will reduce global supply by 5%. The rationale behind this is that:

less supply = greater scarcity = higher prices = greater profits.

Although there have been doubters over this policy it seems to have worked. Coal and steel prices increased as have the profits in those industries and this has led global markets to be more positive about China’s economy. The higher prices has also reduced the threat of deflation coming out of China. Furthermore the Yuan has appreciated and nominal growth has close to a five year high.

Problems with this policy:

The higher price caused by reduced supply raised concerns that supply would lead to surplus capacity.

The underlying problem was that cheap loans were forthcoming from Chinese banks for certain projects run by state-owned firms. This can lead to an uncomfortable scenario with the firms being reckless as if their investment runs into trouble they will be bailed out by the government.

The reducing of output of steel and coal means a loss of 1.8m jobs which will concern Chinese authorities as a top priority has been to keep unemployment as low as possible and thereby limiting possible unrest that may follow.